Drop (2025)

I had initially considered doing my review of Drop in the style of a song parody, mentioning everything I dislike about the film followed by the phrase "drop it like it's hot." That just didn't seem right though. I didn't think I would be able to fully convey my complete disdain for what is one of the worst, and most incompetent, mainstream thrillers I have seen in years.

Meghann Fahy is Violet, a widow (and, importantly, a survivor of domestic abuse) who has finally plucked up the courage to go on a date with Henry (Brandon Sklenar). She leaves her young son, Toby (Jacob Robinson), in the care of her sister, Jen (Violett Beane), and hopes to enjoy the evening ahead. Someone has other plans though, and they start terrorising and controlling Violet through numerous instructions that anonymously drop into her phone. With her family on the line, can Violet figure out a way to either defeat the unknown villain, or will she have to ultimately kill the person she has been told to target?

While I am unhappy with director Christopher Landon for putting his name to this, he is the least of the problems that the film has. In fact, when it comes to some moments that convey the phone messages while keeping viewers aware of the various characters moving through different parts of the fancy restaurant, he can even receive one of the few compliments that I am willing to give this film. Everyone else can throw themselves into the nearest wheelie bin.

Writers Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach haven't given us the best screenplays in the past, and they have managed to bring out the worst in one another since pairing up over the last few years (with the diminishing returns of Truth Or Dare, Fantasy Island, and now this). Everything they serve up here is a hot mess, from the clumsy exposition to the mishandling of some very weighty material, the attempts to make things quirky and fun, and even just the dialogue between our leads. It never feels in any way believable (my partner and I both agreed that the date would have been over within about 20 minutes, at most), it subsequently lacks any tension, and I spent most of the runtime just waiting for whatever ridiculous finale was going to come along and prove me right for having skipped this in cinemas.

The leads don't help either. Fahy tries hard with what she's given, but she's overwhelmed by the absolute crappiness of the writing. Sklenar, on the other hand, positions himself as a handsome lead so bland and stiff that I was wishing they had cast Scott Eastwood in the role instead (and that's something I thought I'd never say). Beane is a welcome presence, sadly offscreen for most of the film, Jeffery Self is a very annoying waiter, Ed Weeks is a very annoying piano player, and Gabrielle Ryan, Sarah McCormack, Travis Nelson, Reed Diamond, and one or two others keep moving in and out of focus to allow themselves to become suspects or victims, depending on which way the film wants to go.

The restaurant design is quite nice. That's about the only other positive I can think of. Nothing else works. This is a "high-concept" thriller that should have been worked on for at least three more drafts. Although I am not sure if anything could have been done to majorly improve something so ridiculous. Even Carry-On was better than this, and I was not a fan of that one.

3/10

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